The present invention relates to a system and method for translating information, to or from, an hierarchical information system.
Legacy systems are systems that support business function, many of which have been in use for many years. These systems usually store information, and communicate with each other, using non-hierarchical information systems, such as linear strings (i.e. legacy messages).
Modern systems often use an hierarchical system to store information and communicate with each other. Hierarchical system typically store information in a tree structure of objects, each object having specific attributes, and where each object may be linked to other objects. XML (Extensible Markup Language) is an example of an hierarchical system.
The need arises for an interface to translate information between systems. Simple systems that translate between linear strings are well known. However, there is a need for products that can read the objects of an hierarchical system and perform the required data transformations. MERCATOR, for example, could be used if first the object model were translated into a standard, predictable data stream. However, the effort to translate the object model into this intermediate format is similar to the effort required to translate the object model into a form directly usable by the legacy system. In addition, MERCATOR is implemented as a single-threaded DLL (Dynamic Linked Library) in Windows NT, which may have an adverse impact on overall system performance and throughput.